Sharing insights since 2007 on carefully saving money, investing, frugal living, coupons, promo codes because the little things matter in achieving financial freedom!
Certificate of deposits, or CDs, are offered by banks as a way to attract additional deposits from customers in exchange for a higher yield. It works out for the banks because CDs have a fixed time period where there are penalties for early withdrawal, giving institutions a high confidence that the deposits can be used for lending. On the other hand, it works for customers as well because of the guaranteed (and often higher) interest rates.
Sounds great. Yet, it’s been a decade since I purchased one. Back then, I bought GICs (it stands for Guaranteed Investment Certificate, the equivalent of CDs in Canada) so technically, I have never purchased a CD before. [ continue reading… ]
Imagine with me for a second that you took the advice to freeze your credit cards. You read the article, poured water into a container, dropped the plastic cards into it and then shoved the end product in the freezer. All is good. Months go by, your spending declines, your bank account balance rises and your mood changes. In fact, you are feeling so good and the increased productivity translates into a promotion. You are ecstatic. You decide that you can afford to splurge a little and buy yourself a new netbook. You go to the freezer, thaw your cards and something strange occurs. The plastic on the front of your credit card starts peeling off and so does the magnetic stripe at the back. You might be thinking that it’s someone telling you that the netbook is really an unnecessary purchase, but more appropriately, it’s the lack of foreseeing the whole scope of your actions. Our society calls this “the unexpected consequences”. [ continue reading… ]
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Thank you for all the positive feedback of the free newsletter. Everyone who subscribed to it already received the first part of the 7-part mini course and there are already some who said they gained insight into cutting down their monthly expenses.
In addition, everyone will get a free copy of the How to Save Money on Everything ebook. It is already several hundred pages long filled with tips and tricks on how you can spend less and live more. And best of all, it’s always being updated.
But don’t listen to me, here’s what some of those readers wrote about the newsletter: [ continue reading… ]
Once in a while, an event reminds me why we aren’t as frugal as our parents. Yesterday was such a time – my glasses broke. More specifically, the screw that holds the frame together popped out and so did the glass, sending everything flying.
It was actually quite funny. I was writing my review of Ally Bank at the time, and I almost literally said “The bank was eye-popping… literally”. Instead, I went to look for the tiny screw driver and of course, I couldn’t find it.
The Simple Free Fix
Without a screw driver, I was stuck. I couldn’t just leave it there and continue to be blind (and falsely believe that everyone I see are beautiful). I looked around, and the solution was there – tape. [ continue reading… ]
Here’s a practical tip that is unbelievably simple and effective. Keep your coupons in your car. The reasons are quite obvious, but when I saw my wife do it, I thought she was a genius and should patent the idea (if we weren’t married already, I might’ve proposed on the spot).
Being the clueless husband that I am, it took me months to realize that my wife always had a bag of coupons with her. I mean, always. She would have the clip outs when we were shopping for groceries, and she would have the coupons while we just happened to drive by a supermarket and wanted to buy a bag of chips. [ continue reading… ]
We hear about all those people who are underwater on their mortgages, and we hear about the incredibly high amounts of distressed properties on the market today. Yet, many of us never really come across the foreclosure process. Is it really that bad? Is it really happening everywhere?
As I write this, I’m on my way to Cape Charles, VA where we have a yearly golf trip (I didn’t go last year because Emma and I went on our honeymoon instead). Usually, we stay in a nice little place we like to call Yellow House but not this year. Yesterday, I found out that the Yellow House doesn’t have water anymore because the owners stopped paying the bills. Uh oh. [ continue reading… ]
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